Cargo is certainly not neglected or by-passed in Schiphol Group’s new organization, claims Anne Marie van Hemert (AMVH). She made this statement in response to accusations by Air Cargo
Netherlands that air freight was being neglected at Schiphol.
Mrs. van Hemert heads the Aviation Business Development department, which includes the responsibility for cargo at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. She just
wants to be allowed the time to do things properly.

CFG: Mrs. van Hemert, do you understand the concern of the cargo community, voiced by ACN, that cargo may be overshadowed in this larger process, playing only the second or even third
fiddle at Schiphol?

AMVH: We talked with ACN only last week, and partially I understand their complaints, but partially I don’t. Perception is, of course, very important. They have the perception of a cargo business
which is not a separate unit, whereas we feel that you cannot function as an isolated island, which will never give you the kind of executional power you need. Personally, I think that we are
much better organized to have that executional power.
Of course, there are a lot of concerns within the community. Some of them are from before my time and I cannot solve them. I try to lend them an ear and together with the team we will investigate
what these concerns are.
We will have to rebuild trust and we are working on that. The slot pool is one of those concerns and we want to proceed in this respect. Steps are being taken, but they need careful attention and
preparation. It is high on the agenda of the group management as well, but there are other parties involved, such as The Hague (NL government) and the EU. All we can do is provide arguments. The
proposed local rule will, at least, offer a partial solution, but it will not be a substitute for the slot pool.

Back to ACN: I think that on certain comments we may have another point of view, hence the importance of working closely together. This is what I would like to work on, together with my team.
This is what we started 6 months ago. The team consists of experienced people as well as newcomers, which will refreshen the views.

CFG: You are responsible for the Aviation Business Development (ABD) department. Does that not mean having to juggle a great many topics alongside cargo? Your critics state that it takes
away the visibility of the cargo business.

AMVH: The reorganization was laid out during the Covid-19 pandemic. We wanted to find out if we were optimally organized for the implementation of our ambition. This process involved a closer
look at Airline Marketing, Cargo, and Customer Experience; the division that was responsible for cargo up to then. In that division, cargo was more visible, even if it was combined with other
elements. I understand that, if you look at the airport from the outside to the inside, you would expect cargo to get greater attention. From the previous years, however, we learned that this
does not always mean that more things can be realized. If you have a separate cargo unit, it gives the impression of being an isolated island, which can also create a counter-effect.

That means that we have looked into making this more powerful towards the community, and we wanted to be closer to the department that will eventually have to achieve all the work. We have been
able today, to create a link between the various departments, with a better alignment of cargo within this context, and therefore creating more execution power.

Team will be first to contact

CFG: So, if people want to talk about cargo, they will always end up with you?

AMVH: Basically spoken, yes, but of course there are other colleagues that have cargo as a point of interest as part of their respective functions. I want to align these colleagues in a better
way so that we can have the same focus and can strengthen each other. That team is the one with which the first contact will be made.

CFG: So you do have a cargo team supporting you, correct?

AMVH: I have several teams that report to me, such as Airline & Cargo Partnerships, Forecasting Analysis and Capacity Management (FACT), which makes it interesting, because we, as Aviation
Business Development, are the first point of contact for our customers and stakeholders.

FACT collects the quantitative requirements. The other teams are there to collect the qualitative requirements. Besides that, there is also Cargonaut, of which we took over full control. Within
Cargonaut, there are two flows to consider: the integration of the staff, and the development of the new digital platform. So, cargo will grow into an ever more prominent position within ABD,
interlinking with all the rest.